Magic
Magic is the term used to refer to the mystic force, inhabiting the land, as well as every creature alive in it. It´s presence, however, differs highly in different places of Beradon. It´s origin lies with the gods, who created Beradon countless aeons ago. Thus, it is nothing else, but leftovers of divine power. The use of magic in turn means to absorb, channel, control and - of course - use these forces. Due to the nature of magic, this allows for abilities otherwise sheer impossible. Being able to truly control magic requires immense training and huge amounts of control and mental strength. Not many are even able to feel, and absorb the force of the land. Most of the ones who are able to and trained in it, belong to the Order of Silence, or an Order branching down from it. People who are able to fully control the use of magic without training are a very rare sight, but not unheared of. They are referred to as sorcerers, while trained users simply took on the name mages. The Nature of Magic Magic, as mentioned, is a part of the land, as well as living creatures. But these are two very different things, since the magic of the land is more of a fountain of energy, while the magic within humans and other lifeforms is a part of them. The magic within Lifeforms Just like every human has bones in their body, blood in their veins and organs to keep the body functioning, there is also a flow, a web, of magic streams in every being in Beradon. And it is just as vital to the proper functing of the body, as all the things mentioned before. In a world streaked by magic, this leaves potential, hopes and dangers. If the magic within a person is manipulated by the interference of outside magic, almost anything can happen inside the body. Some mages are able to use magic to manipulate the magic within others in Order to treat wounds or even illnesses. However, the opposite can also be achieved. And while some dark mages are actually known of, who used magic in order to cause sickness within people, the manipulation of magic within lifeforms, which results in such things is much more commonly caused by magic diseases. But the options don´t stop there. As mentioned there are many more ways outside magic can interact with the magic within lifeforms. It must be said, however, that while every living creature has a magic web in them, which is a crucial part of their existence itself, they seem to be composed very differently, resulting in the fact that no two interactions of outside magic with a lifeform will ever be identical. This difference in composition of magic streams also seems to be the source of the difference in potential for the use of magic. The magic within the land The magic streams, which are being present everywhere in the world of Beradon, are traces left behind by the gods, who created this world. Together with the magic that is a part of living beings, they make up the essence of life for every plant, every animal, every human, every other creature. Over the millenia of humanity in beradon, mages managed to create quite an exact mapping of the streams throughout Beradon. From the beginning of humanity, magic was discovered and used, and big cities almost exclusivley rose up around focus points of magic. An exacter understanding of the streams aside from "So here magic is strong, and here it is weak" only latley rose up. A higher concentration of magic in the land means usually a higher magical potential for people, who know how to use it. By now it is commonly known among mages, that all the streams in Beradon seem to spread in almost a perfectly symmetrical pattern, with the streams, for a few exceptions, coming together in the Eastern Mountains. The greater meaning behind this is left to be discovered, but the information is being kept from every outsider, since the prescence of the Entity dubbed "Demon" at the center of all magic does neither seem to be a coincidence, nor a good omen. The use of magic Absorbing Magic from within the earth and channeling it through the own body is a dangerous process that by nature would tear apart human bodies and minds, since they could not handle divine power. In some cases this actually happens fairly quickly, and people with the potential to use magic die at a very young age, sometimes even killing other people in the process of these accidents, caused by them not being able to control magic they subconciously absorbed into their own streams. The controled use of magic has two disciplines. Natural Magic Also called Light Magic by commoners, Natural Magic is the generally accepted form of magic usage. While mages generally could count on society to dislike them, their knowledge and powers often made them accepted or respected more and more and more as time went on. This is highly due to the careful work of the Order of Silence, who carefully managed the perception of magic in public and became highly influetial. The use of natural magic requires the mage to be able to use his body and mind as a filter for the magic and carefully release it in order to heal people, restore memories, study magic potential of other people or control Wind, Water and Earth. Dark Magic Use of Dark Magic has been a crime punished with death since the beginning of civilisation. Every person suspected to practice dark magic is outcast, avoided and generally just expected to get hunt down by authorities of the time. Dark Mages use as much magical energy as possible, as untamed as possible and release it as extreme as possible. This results in the aggressive control and attack of peoples minds, destruction of magic within Lifeforms, control of fire or a multitude of weaponized abilities, commonly refered to as "Battle Magic". Unknown Magic Every ability not achieved or yet explained by the general use of Natural or Dark Magic is classified by the Order of Silence as Unknown magic. The most notible instances of Unknown Magic are magical seals, the abilities of vampires and the annomalies cause by the Demon. Dissolving Rifts are still classified as unknown magic by the Order of Silence, although the mage known as Zeromancer pushed the understanding of this literal destruction of space and time, and thus the option to revert the creation of the gods to the very limit.